May 28, 2013

Last night, my sakadane smelled of alcohol. Signs of full fermentation? Anyway, I put it in the fridge. It might be ready for use in making bread, but it was bubbling very weakly. So, I added some (about 1 tbsp) flour and let sit at room temperature for a few hours.

Here is a link to Episode 5 of the TV drama, Ando Natsu:
テレビドラマ「あんどーなつ」の第五話のリンクです：Link
By watching the episode, you will see how important sakadane is for a wagashi ya (Japanese-style confection store).
これを見れば、和菓子屋にとって酒種がどれくらい重要か分かります。

This morning, I checked the temperature at around 6:45, and it was 49oC. I transferred the amazake into a plastic container. I tasted some, and found it was as sweet as it was last night, so I thought maybe I should have transferred it to a container last night. Anyway, I liked the natural sweetness of the amazake although it was much less sweet than the amazake that I had at the International Festival at IUJ.
I won't bring it to a boil to stop fermentation. Once it cools down, I will put in the fridge.
今朝、6:45頃、温度を調べると、49oCでした。甘酒をプラスチックの容器にあけました。少し飲んでみると、昨晩飲んだ時と甘さは同じでした。昨晩のうちに容器に移しておくべきだったかなあ、と思いました。とにかく、この甘酒の自然な甘さには好きです。国際大学のインターナショナル・フェスティバルで飲んだ甘酒より甘さはずっと低いですが。
私は沸騰させて発酵を止めることはしません。冷めたら、冷蔵庫に入れようと思います。

I put 100 ml amazake in a glass jar and added 100 ml water to make a leavening agent (sakadane) for making bread.
酒種を作るため、甘酒を100 ml、ガラス瓶に入れ、水を100 ml入れました。

In Japan, koji-kin (Aspergillus oryzae) is called kokkin (national fungus). Now I can clearly see how important koji-kin is!
日本では、麹菌(Aspergillus oryzae)は国菌（こっきん）と言われています。麹菌の大切さがよく分かりました！

Edited to add:
追記：
I had a glass of amazake with some ice cubes after lunch.
昼食の後で、甘酒を一杯、氷を入れて飲みました。

Quite good! Sweet and refreshing!
かなりいいです！甘くてさわやかです！

***
Other notes on amazake:

It is recommended to "boil" amazake once it is made, as I said earlier. By "boiling", I mean heat treatment or heat sterilization. Here's how:
Heat amazake to 80oC (70oC according to one site) and keep simmering for 10 minutes (2-3 minutes according to one site). This will keep the amazake from lactic acid fermentation.
甘酒に関する他の注：
前にも言ったように、甘酒ができたら、沸騰させるといいです。「沸騰」とは熱処理や熱殺菌のことです。次のようにします：
甘酒を80oC（或る一つのサイトでは70oC）まで加熱し、10分（或る一つのサイトでは２～３分）煮ます。こうすると、甘酒が乳酸発酵するのを防げます。

May 23, 2013

The former is easier to make because it does not require fermentation, while the latter requires fermentation. I've been familiar with the former since childhood (and I've never been a big fan of it), but I hadn't had the opportunity to try the latter until the International Festival held at IUJ the other day. It was surprisingly sweet although it contained no sugar.

In present Japan, amazake is usually a winter beverage, but according to Wikipedia, it was a summer beverage in the Edo period, and was drunken to fight off natsu bate (summer fatigue).

Amazake contains nutrients comparable to those of drip infusion, so is called "nomu tenteki" (lit. drinking drip infusion), and is also called "sougou vitamin zai" (lit. multivitamin supplement).

Today, I made my very first attempt to make the latter type of amazake. I bought a pack of 400 g koji.

今日は、後者の甘酒を初めて作ってみました。400 gの麹を１パック買いました。

Most recipes call for both koji and cooked rice (1:1), and many recommend using mochi rice because this results in sweeter amazake.

Referring to several recipes, I decided to use koji only, with no cooked rice.

大抵のレシピでは麹とご飯を両方（１：１）使い、また多くのレシピではもち米のほうが甘い甘酒になるので、もち米を勧めています。

私はいくつかのレシピを参考に、ご飯なしで、麹だけを使うことにしました。

Ingredients:

1 liter water

400 g koji

Equipment:

Thermos bottle

Thermometer

Directions:

1. Break koji into individual grains.

(I did so while leaving the koji in the bag, so I didn't have to touch it with my bare hands.)

材料：

水１リットル

麹 400 g

器具：

魔法瓶

温度計

作り方：

1. 麹を一粒づつにします。

（私は、素手で麹に触らないよう、麹を袋に入れたままやりました。）

2. Put koji in thermos bottle.

2. 麹を魔法瓶に入れます。

3. Bring water to a boil, cool down to 70oC, and add to thermos bottle.

3.水を沸騰させ、70oCまで冷まし、魔法瓶に入れます。

4. Check the temperature. It should be in the range of 55 to 60oC.

5. Check the temperature occasionally, say, every 2 hours. If it's lower, transfer to a pot, heat, and return to thermos bottle.

4. 温度を調べます。55～60oCの範囲になるはずです。

5. 温度を時々（２時間に一回）調べます。低ければ、鍋に移し、加熱し、魔法瓶に戻します。

6. Amazake will be made in 8 hours. Bring to a boil to stop the fermentation.

6. ８時間で甘酒ができます。沸騰させて発酵を止めます。

Notes:

1. When I combined koji and water in the thermos bottle at 14:00, the temperature was 53oC.

At 16:00, 55oC

At 18:00, 52oC

At 19:30, 52oC

I added some (about 100 ml) 70oC water in an attempt to raise the temperature, but I managed to increase it to 53oC.

At 21:30 (7.5 hours later), 52oC

I tasted the amazake, and thought it was not sweet enough. I transferred to a pot, heated to 60oC, and returned to the thermos. I will keep the amazake in it overnight, and see what it will be like tomorrow morning.

2. My wife also tasted it, and said it was good, very similar to the amazake her grandmother used to make.

3. I will not boil the amazake to stop fermentation. I think I'll simply put in the fridge. I have another thing to do: making bread with the amazake.

4. If allowed to ferment, amazake would turn into sake and eventually into vinegar.

May 20, 2013

Ever since I started to keep nukadoko (rice bran bed for pickling), I've wanted to try making bread using nukadoko as a starter. But I've also been scared to try it. After careful searching, I think I'm finally ready to give it a try.

May 19, 2013

I was intrigued by the tofu. It looked like Japanese atsu age (deep-fried thick tofu, as opposed to abura age). I asked, "Is it fried?" They replied, "Cooked with Chinese herbs." I decided to try the tofu.